Run Your Ass Off

Almost forgot to write today…

…but I didn’t forget to run.

Ran this morning — or rather walked quickly and sometimes trotted — out at Yankee Woods at 8 a.m. First walk/run with the club in quite a while. I did meet with club members this summer at Chestnut a few times. But it felt good to get out today with everyone.

I was moving on the ice for about 37 minutes. Had a blast.

I’ll have even more fun when I can run long enough to say hello when everyone’s finished with their long runs.

It’s not about the campaign….

This blog is not about the campaign. I’m not even going to say what campaign. I don’t want to link the campaign site to this site. This is personal. This is about getting back on the road, losing weight, getting in shape, and jogging again.

If I win in April, I will have lost if I’m not in better shape, and at least 10 pounds lighter.

Essentially, I have to lose the equivalent of one bowling ball. That’s my motivation.

The first 10 pounds are supposed to be the easiest.

When I started running the first time I had different reasons. I imagined myself impressing others. I emailed friends and told them what I was doing. I wanted to run that first Marathon. That was goal number one. My first 5K? Brentwood Firecracker 5K, south of Pittsburgh, PA. I travelled in for it, and actually finished at a decent time. I have no idea what it was. 4th of July every year, 9:00 a.m., straight up and down Brownsville Rd. It’s a hilly course — at least by Chicago standards. Never level, up and down those little hills a little over 1.5 miles out, and back up and down the same hills, just over 1.5 miles back.

This time it’s not about a race. It’s not about training for a Marathon. It’s about running a mile.

Today is Friday. That’s a day off. Mandated, every week.

And it was too damn cold and windy to run. Tomorrow is a different story.

I’m the Big Fat Guy Trying to Jog

Yes, that’s me. Day two.

I’m the big fat guy, struggling to run down your street in Park Forest, trying to jog.

Day two shows an event time of 29:32, but I covered more distance than yesterday. My average HR in zone was 118, my time in zone was 18:40, and my average HR was 113. I don’t know my distance, but I did remember what will now be rule #2: Jump in the First Puddle You See.

More on that later.

Rule #1: Leave the Dog at Home

Made it back in today from my first official walk. The official time is 31:31:25, and my average HR was only 105. My HR was in a lower zone averaging 116 for only 2:26.

But that’s more than I did yesterday.

I decided to leave the dog at home. I took him with me over the summer, and there’s too much stopping and starting with him. He can wait. I took him on his own walk when I returned.

I didn’t measure my distance, but given where I walked, it was probably about 1.25 mile.

That means I beat the 30 minute mile. Wow.

And this was only the first day.